Manchester City vs FC Barcelona Tickets

Champions League football has been a regular feature at the Etihad Stadium for a few years now, and this 53,400-seater arena is often filled on European nights.

Fans hoping to attend this thrilling European fixture can buy Man City vs Barcelona tickets with SeatPick, ensuring a minimum 100% purchase guarantee.

Manchester City vs FC Barcelona History

FC Barcelona, with five European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles to their name, as of 2023, can consider themselves historically more accomplished than their opponents, but Manchester City are very much on par with the Catalan side in terms of recent successes.

FC Barcelona’s first European Cup success came in 1992 after two previous failed final attempts against Benfica (in 1961) and Steaua Bucharest (in 1986). Johan Cruyff cracked the code with a narrow win over Sampdoria at Wembley Stadium.

The Dutch boss then experienced a low point two years later when his side went up against AC Milan and were found wanting, losing 4-0 to the Italian giants.

It would take another decade to hit those heights again, with Frank Rijkaard scoring the club’s first win of the UEFA Champions League era, with late goals from Samuel Eto’o and Juliano Belletti earning Barcelona a comeback win over Arsenal in Paris.

Three titles over the space of six years between 2009 and 2015 earned Barcelona the right to be considered, at that time, the biggest and most prolific team of the era. The key to those successes were certainly Argentine legend Lionel Messi, albeit with additional assistance from the likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, and Sergio Busquets.

The first two of those wins came against Manchester United, in Rome and at Wembley Stadium, under Pep Guardiola. The third during Luis Enrique’s three-year spell in charge at Camp Nou, his side beating Juventus in Berlin.

Manchester City’s involvement in the competition is very much skewed in terms of the more recent past; however, their first campaign did come way back in 1968/69, albeit briefly, as they were beaten by Turkish side Fenerbahce in the First Round.

Their return to the competition came over 40 years later, with the 2011/12 campaign secured after Roberto Mancini had claimed the club’s first Premier League title.

In that season and the next, they failed to navigate a way through their group stage, but in 2013/14, they finally did so before losing to Barcelona in the Round of 16. The club’s first significant run in the UEFA Champions League followed in 2015/16 when Real Madrid edged them out 1-0 on aggregate.

Between 2017/18 and 2019/20, Pep Guardiola’s side suffered three successive Quarter-Final exits with losses to Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, and Lyon.

2020/21 saw the club finally go all the way to the UEFA Champions League Final, only to lose to a single goal from Kai Havertz, with Chelsea edging out their Premier League rivals in Porto.

The Etihad Stadium side continued to invest vast sums into the playing side of the business and were clearly focused on ending their lengthy wait for the ultimate prize, and in 2022/23, they finally managed to complete their quest.

Wins over Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals earned them a final with Inter Milan, and a Rodri goal midway through the second half was the just reward for Manchester City.

Manchester City vs FC Barcelona Stats and Mutual Connections

During his largely successful time as a Barca player, Lionel Messi netted six times in as many games versus Man City. Two of these goals came at the Etihad Stadium, while he also bagged a hat-trick at the expense of these opponents in 2016.

Several high-profile individuals have represented both of these teams, particularly those moving directly from Manchester City to Barca.

• Sergio Agüero departed MCFC in 2021, having scored a club record 260 goals during his 10-year stay at the Premier League outfit. The Argentina striker completed a free transfer to Barcelona, though he would play only five times for the Catalan giants before having to retire due to a heart condition. Eric García also sealed a free transfer from Man City to boyhood club Barcelona that summer.

• Spain winger Ferran Torres enjoyed 18 months at Man City, having joined from Valencia in the summer of 2020, before he was signed by Barcelona in a reported €55m deal.

• İlkay Gündoğan was one of Pep Guardiola's first signings as Manchester City manager, and the Germany midfielder went on to play more than 300 times for the Citizens. Gündoğan moved to Barca on a free transfer in 2023, having lifted the Champions League trophy in his final game for MCFC.

• Portugal international João Cancelo was loaned from Man City to Barcelona for the duration of the 2023/24 season.

• Despite not moving directly between the clubs, Guardiola has of course been in charge of both Manchester City and FC Barcelona, having also spent much of his playing career with the latter. The Spanish coach steered both these teams to Champions League glory.

Manchester City vs FC Barcelona Head-to-Head

Barca won on each of their first two visits to the Etihad Stadium, as these teams met in the Champions League last-16 in back-to-back seasons. First, in 2013/14, the away side won 2-0 thanks to goals from Lionel Messi and Dani Alves, followed by a 2-1 victory at the Camp Nou.

The following season Luis Suárezs struck twice to hand La Blaugrana another 2-1 success at the home of the Citizens. Sergio Agüero pulled one back for Manchester City, but ultimately Barca would advance and even went all the way to clinch the title.

In 2016/17 the teams met in the Champions League group stage for the first time. This came in Pep Guardiola's first season as Man City boss, and he guided the Sky Blues to their first ever triumph over the mighty Barcelona. İlkay Gündoğan scored twice and Kevin De Bruyne once as the home side ran out 3-1 winners in this fixture.

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